Borrowers face 'tough choice' over mortgages

Mortgage customers are facing "tough choices" as the market reaches a "fork in the road".

This is the view of consumer advice service moneysupermarket.com, which said new low rate variable deals could be risky.

The comments follow the release of new "discount" deals from HSBC and Santander.

Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, the website's mortgages channel manager, said HSBC's 1.99 per cent deal is "vulnerable" to changes in the bank's standard variable rate offering.

"We are perhaps reaching a fork in the road for the mortgage market, with some lenders keen to capitalise on the low Base Rate for excellent, headline grabbing rates and others looking to lock customers in on fixed deals before rates rise," she said.

"Borrowers coming to the end of a deal have a tough choice to make, do they take the risk and plump for a low rate variable deal and hope nothing changes, or do they pay a little more each month for the sake of secure fixed repayments?"

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